1 “At that time,” says theLord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
2 They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought andwhich they have worshiped. They shall not be gatherednor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
3 Thendeath shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says theLordof hosts.
The Peril of False Teaching
4 “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says theLord:
“Will they fall and not rise?
Will one turn away and not return?
5 Why has this peopleslidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
# They hold fast to deceit,
# They refuse to return.
6 I listened and heard,
Butthey do not speak aright.
# No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course,
As the horse rushes into the battle.
7 “Eventhe stork in the heavens
Knows her appointed times;
And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow
Observe the time of their coming.
# ButMy people do not know the judgment of theLord.
8 “How can you say, ‘Wearewise,
# And the law of theLordiswith us’?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
9 The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of theLord;
# Sowhat wisdom do they have?
10 ThereforeI will give their wives to others,
Andtheir fields to those who will inheritthem;
Because from the least even to the greatest
# Everyone is given tocovetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
11 For they havehealed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly,
# Saying,‘Peace, peace!’
Whenthereisno peace.
12 Were theyashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says theLord.
13 “I will surely consume them,” says theLord.
# “No grapesshallbeon the vine,
# Nor figs on thefig tree,
And the leaf shall fade;
# AndthethingsI have given them shallpass away from them.” ’ ”
14 “Why do we sit still?
# Assemble yourselves,
And let us enter the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there.
For theLordour God has put us to silence
# And given uswater of gall to drink,
Because we have sinned against theLord.
15 “Welooked for peace, but no goodcame;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble!
16 The snorting of His horses was heard fromDan.
# The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of Hisstrong ones;
For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell in it.”
17 “For behold, I will send serpents among you,
# Vipers which cannot becharmed,
And they shall bite you,” says theLord.
The Prophet Mourns for the People
18 I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heartisfaint in me.
19 Listen! The voice,
The cry of the daughter of my people
# Froma far country:
“Isnot theLordin Zion?
Isnot her King in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt.
# I ammourning;
Astonishment has taken hold of me.
22 Istherenobalm in Gilead,
Isthereno physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?